Mode of coetttectiire awd disconnecting machinery by means op a belt



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TINDAL A. MADISON, OF TERRE HAUTE, INDIANA.

MODE OF CONNECTING AND DISCONNECTING MACHINERY BY MEANS 0F A. BELT.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 24,220, dated May 31, 1859*.

To all whom it may concern: Y

Be it known that I, TINDAL A. MADISON, of Terre Haute, in Vigo county, in the Sta-te of Indiana, have invented a new and Improved Mode of Connecting and Disconnect ing Machinery by Means of a Belt; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon.

The nature -of my invention consists in applying a shifting bar of peculiar construction to a belt, used for connecting machinery, in such way that the belt may be shifted by a motion of the bar, either from a driving pulley to a series of dead rollers or their equivalent suitably disposed along side, or vice versa. Shifting levers have been long in use, but they have been employed to shift the belt, not from the driving pulley, as in my invention, but from the leading pulley to a friction pulley along side and vice versa. In the old method the belt therefore remains always on the driving pulley, unless disconnected by the hand, and is constantly running at a great expense from wear and tear of bands and machinery, and loss of power. By my invention, I shift the belt off or on the driving pulley at pleasure by a simple motion, and the belt always remains at rest except when in actual use.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe its construction and, operation.

Figure l is a perspective drawing of my invention. A represents a driving pulley, a its shaft and b a crank att-ached thereto by means of which the driving pulley A may be made to revolve in the direction .of its arrow. B and C are posts supporting the shaft a. D DD is a belt connecting the drivingpulley A with the leading pulley E, and communicating motion to the leading, or to the friction pulley E when the driving pulley A revolves. F G are posts supporting the shaft C of the pulley E. I is. a plate of wood or iron fastened to the post Gr, supporting a series of rollers H H H, partly seen in the drawing. The rollers I-I I-I H are attached to the plate I, each by a bolt or stud passing through its axes on which it is free to revolve. The rollers H H H are placed side by side, leaving a little space bep I tween, and are disposed in an arc of a circle (usually a little more than a semicircle) the same diameter with that of the driving pulley A. rlhe series of rollers I-I H H (having reference to its contour as a whole) is placed concentric with the shaft a of the driving pulley A, and on one side of the driving pulley A, and but little distance therefrom. The series of rollers H H H areplaced opposite, and corresponding to that part of the circumference of the driving pulley -on which the belt D D D rests. (Instead of the se" ries of dead ro-llers a dead pulley may be used turning. on the shaft by means of a hollow shaft of its own.)

Fig. 2 represents a vertical section of one of the series of rollers shown at H H H Fig. l. V Fig. 2 is a bolt or stud firmly attached to the plate I by the nuts a and b on either side of the plate I. H is a section of the roller. A cup shaped excavation is turned out at both ends around the axis to receive the nuts Z) and el. The nut l aided by the washer c confines the roller H in its place on the bolt V, and the nut l), aided bythe with the plate I. A is a section of` the driving pulley where it is opposite the free end of the roller H exhibiting the proper distance between the two.

Fig. 3 represent-s a front view of the plate I and rollers attached in a semicircular form. H is an end view of'one of the roll ers. The cup shaped excavation is seen at a, and within this the washer, nut and end of the stud. The excavation in the ends of the rollers may be dispensed with where the drivof the stud will come under the rim and not interfere.

J, Fig. l, is a lever carrying the shifting bar with its accessories K, not by a close attachment but allowing a little play, by means of the slot CZ. The lever J is pivoted on the beam L, with a loose joint. The shifting bar K carries a box M M, consistingy of a bottom and two sides. This is firmly attached to the bar K on one side, and its position is such in relation to the belt kD, that the belt D passes over the bottom, parallely and nearly in contact therewith and between the sides M M. N is a gate or pawl N piv'- oted on the rod 79, which passes perpendlcularly through the b ox M M from side t-o side, the gate N being of nearly the same washer c, keeps the roller H from contact ing pulley is of iron, as in that case the end ifao width of the boxM M within which it plays. In the shifting bar K is a ,lateral slot e,

through which a stud f passes, which'is inserted into the lever J. Pivoted on the free extremity of the stud f, and confined toitby a nut ,thereon is the rod R .connected with the gate or pawl N by a slot and rivet at the upper part of N. The bar K and box M M are supported by a guide plate S on which they slide-and which is attached to the' ing Vthe same--,:,=feneral direction as theslot 1U.

IFig. 5 representsan end viewof the box M lM olf-the Shifting bar K,withthe friction roller z.. It also shows -a front view of the gate or pawl N, and Athe attachment thereto of :the connectingrod R, by means of thepivot The friction roller h turns on-astud )csecured by nuts to the bar K, Zlis aguardand washer, -under the friction roller fh, ywhich' may extend under the plate S xso -asto prevent -the friction roller from rising ou-t of the slot U U. Thestud 7c has a nut or head on the lower end by which Vthe `roller and Washer are properly adjusted.

'Having thus 4described the various parts o`f;myinvention, I will now ldescribe them in `their connection and mutual dependence.`

' When the driving pulley A is made torevolve-'in the direction'of its'arrowbygpower' applied to the shaft a, and when the belt D -D `Dfis running thereon, andperforming its function of co mmunicating'V -motion to theleadi'ng or :friction pulley E,;the proper position for the shifting bar ,K and box U is forward atthe entrance "end U of the guiding slot U U. The position of the lever suspended Vlike a pendulum'from'the? beam 4L and attached in the manner ydescribed 'to 'thebar 1K is also forward in theV direction ofi its arrow and` out ofits position 1 ofequilibrium. The llever J therefore'tends to .fall back under the influence of gravity,; and it 4.has suificient weight to .fall .back through the intent of .the slot d, carrying] with it lthe stud f and .rod R connected therewith and yrto raise the gateor pawl N` connected withthe rod R from Contact with belt'D D D. 'This isthe position of rest of the shifting bar K and Vits accessories when the Abelt 'D D D is on the driving pulley A and,V running. The belt D D D then passes over the bottom ofthe box "M M, and under `the gate or pawl without necessarily touching either. IfY it is now Vnecessary to shift the belt D D-D from the driving pulley A onto the series of dead rollers H H "H, the lever J is thrown'backward in the reverse direction of its arrow, and the shifting bar .Kand box M `M are .thereby `carried backward and laterally, guided by the friction roller h. working inthe slot U U; until the friction roller 'tf reaches the extremity U The side M of the box M M bears on the` edge of .the vvbelt D D D and `guides rit inthe direction `of ithe dead rollers vH H H. Theinertia lof `the {pulley F, 'and 'machinery` connected 'therewith is suffcientftorunit overontothe dead rollers H H H Ibefore vthefriction pulley `'F` stops. If it is now desired to shiftthebelt 1D D D from the dead rollers H I-I onto thedriving pulley A revolving in the direction "of its-arrow, -the `rlever J Vis thrown forward.

`The yfirst motion of the lever J carries it forward through the slot d until it brings up against fthe arm K, asfseen in the drawing. The lever J carries Uforward with` it in this motion ithe stud f and connecting rod R attached thereto and depressesI 1the gate or -pawl 'N down onthe belt D D D so as to'clamp it against tle ibottom of the box M l`M. The continued motion forward ofthe lever J -then carries` the shifting bar Kwithgits box andthe belt D -D clamped between Vthe pawl N and 4the :bottom of the box M zforward and llaterally, andthen forward alone, inthe direction -of the driving `pulley A following the `twofold direction of the slot JU from LUto Il.` 5By means of `this forward -motion of `thebelt D D Dcom'bined with the lateral motion,

I arnxenabled to 4shift it vfronrthe dead Qrollers to :the pulley A while in motion.l In order to run thebelt D vD ED from a state of rest on 'to the drivingpulley Ain motion it is necessary to communicate 1to it as *I have in my invention aforw-ard as 4welll as a lateral motion. Assoon as the lever lJhas been thrown lforward to Athe 'full extent o'f the stroke aspjust described and is released itdropsbaclr by itsown weight through the extent ofthe slot fand connecting ro'd R it raisesrthe gate or pawl N from `the belt` D D D which it Ahad previously clamped and "allows the 4belt D D D to lrun freely.

Theforwarimotion oflthebeltalso carried v bv.thefdriving pulley A helps 'to -raise the Vgate and start the 'lever backward.

p 'The weight of the; gate or pawl "N is often s'ulicient to .insure its clamping the-belt D :D D 'in its forward motion dispensing withthe connecting rod R, the stud f and .the slot ci the leverbeing then simply -pivoted on the bar K. In :thiscase thebelt D D Dis relieved from the clamp of the gateorlpawl as soon as it is carried forward by thedriving pulley A, and .leaves the weight of the pawl resting on it while iso the belt is in motion. But the top of the gate N may be made tO strike a pin projecting from the block T in such a position that it Will encounter the top of the gate N and throw it up from the belt D D D just before the end of the stroke of the shifting bar K and the lever J. And a like arrangement at the back end of the slot U U to throw the gate down again. The gate or ypavvl N being kept in place by its top being rounded and turning under a spring projecting from the side of the boX M M and resting upon it.

' I usually construct the parts peculiar tO I my invention Of vvOod With the exception of the'studs, nuts and Washers, Which I make of iron. But I do not conne myself to any special material. Neither do I confine myself to the precise arrangement described.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent is- 1. The combination of the shifting bar K With the belt D D D, the driving pulley A and the series of dead rollers H H H or Y their equivalents, for the purposes described;

2. The combination Of the shifting bar K and box M M With the gate or pavvl N or their equivalents, for the purposes described.

3. The guide plate S With its slot U in combination With the friction roller 71 or their equivalents, for the purpose of giving both forward and lateral motion to the belt D D D when moved from a state of rest as described.

4. The series of dead rollers H H H for the purposes and arranged in the manner set forth.

5. The lever .I in combination With the slots d and e, the stud f and connecting rod R for the purpose of operating the gate Or Apavvl N in the manner described.

T. A. MADISON.

Witnesses:

JOSEPH COOPER, LEONARD BARNEY. 

